Tehran attacks ‘a Saudi-Israel-US project’: IRGC cmdr.

A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the recent deadly terror attacks in Tehran were the outcome of a tripartite project by Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States.

Speaking in a televised interview on Thursday, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the IRGC’s second-in-command, said the joint Saudi-Israel-US project was aimed at dealing a blow to Iran’s political and security power.

At least 17 people were killed and around 50 injured in Tehran on Wednesday, when gunmen attacked Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) and the Mausoleum of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini.

Both attacks were, however, foiled by the Iranian security forces, who arrived on the scene in no time and prevented the terrorists from gaining access to the sensitive parts of the two complexes.

The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the near-simultaneous assaults.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry later identified the five terrorists involved in the attacks, saying they had a history of past terrorist activities and were linked to Wahhabi and Takfiri groups.

Iranian security forces lie in ambush near the parliament on June 7, 2017 during an underway terror attack on the legislature. (Photo by Tasnim News Agency)

Salami further hailed the effective response to the attacks and said it “buried our enemies’ political dream alive, showing that Iran will be a graveyard for anyone seeking to endanger its security,” he asserted.

Last month, US President Donald Trump went to Saudi Arabia in his first foreign visit, clinching a USD-110-billion arms deal with Riyadh, which US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said was aimed at “countering” Iran.

Trump then travelled to Israel. In both places, he referred to Iran as a purveyor of terrorism and urged the Persian Gulf Arab states to unite against the Islamic Republic, endorsing both Riyadh and Tel Aviv’s anti-Iran stance.

Tehran has consistently rejected such accusations of intervention in regional affairs, and urged dialog and convergence among the Persian Gulf’s littoral states

‘Attacks rooted in enemies’ frustration’

He said the acts of terror were perpetrated as a result of the enemies’ back-to-back defeats in regional disputes and proxy warfare over the past years.

“While the Americans, the Saudis, some reactionary regional countries and Westerners were trying to tip the regional equations in their own favor and threaten the Islamic Republic’s establishment, they didn’t manage to act out their plans in Syria and Iraq, and suffered defeat in regional political disputes,” he added.

“The Saudis’ regional policies have completely been defeated, while Daesh’s turf has dwindled and is on the verge disappearance,” he added in reference to accusations against Riyadh of funding and fueling Takfiri terrorism in the region.

When it comes to the country’s national security, Salami said, Iran does not “joke” with any side.

“We are extraordinarily powerful. We have everything at our disposal and enjoy a variety of options,” said the Iranian commander, warning that “if anyone seeks to disrupt our national security, we won’t leave him any safe spot.”